


A Tank and his UFO Master

by BasslineRaver



Category: Transformers - All Media Types
Genre: Crack Pairing, Fluff, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-04-28
Updated: 2013-05-12
Packaged: 2017-12-09 19:46:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,373
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/777313
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BasslineRaver/pseuds/BasslineRaver
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The war has ended. Those with tank alt modes, remnants of the war, are no longer needed, and sent to 'farms' where they're secretly abused. Cosmos goes to one and ends up adopting one that might be more trouble than he expected.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

The war was over. It was a relief to so many. There was no more reason to fight, and there was no reason to fear for one’s life. The phrase “Everyone’s share has its purpose” came back into popularity as Cybertron was being rebuilt. Almost every single frame type had its use except for those made solely for warring. The Autobots had deemed it cruel to just kill them off, so they were often sent to farms to live out their days, away from the cities as not to cause problems. Tank farms were some of the largest, most populated farms. However, they were not always left on the farms. The best fate was to be adopted into an Autobot’s care, and brought back to their home elsewhere. The worst fate was that some were quietly killed off, away from the watchful gaze of the Autobots that may have cared for them.

Cosmos knew nothing of the terrible fate of the tanks until the day that he went to one of the farms. He was tired of being alone, he spent far too much alone time in space before, and now he just wanted a companion. So he had made his way to one of the farms, and was shocked to see a large incinerator sitting in the middle of the farm. He pointed it at it and asked why.

“That’s to give them the fear of Primus and whatnot,” the warden of the farm shrugged, “Some of ‘em are pretty vicious too, nobody would want to care for them.”

Cosmos managed to look sad without having a visible mouth to pout with. He walked stubbornly over to the area and found there were cages with tankformers sitting nearby in varying stages of being uncared for. None of them looked too ‘vicious’ and instead, looked like they had given up in caring. The one in the cage closest to the incinerator drew Cosmos’ attention. He waddled over, shyly, and looked. The large tankformer inside was looking worse off than any other mech there.

“Oh that one. That one’s goin’ in next,” the warden grunted. “He’s been fighting the others and despite us trying to show him that it’s a safer place now, he won’t understand it. So he’s going in.” The warden pointed at the incinerator. Cosmos felt his spark sink as he watched some of the other tankformers flinch at hearing that, but the one that was currently being talked about barely reacted.

“Well, what’s his desgination?” Cosmos asked. “Do you wanna tell me your name?”

Tarn tried to speak, he really did. His vocalizer was shorted out, and the warden would have said that it was just because he was trying to fight the others, but that just wasn’t true. He and the others were fed a steady diet of drugged energon while the warden and his buddies would come in and beat them up, talking about things like ‘this is for the war,’ and so on. The drugs made it impossible to fight back. Tarn shifted a bit and pulled with his one remaining arm at the bonds that kept him still.

Cosmos couldn’t see that his arm was tied behind his back, kept in place with a chain around his neck, but he could see that he was missing an arm.

“You don’t wanna get too close,” the warden cautioned. Cosmos ignored him and then managed to catch the broken gaze of Tarn. He was… tired. He had given up. That’s what made Cosmos’ spark ache the most.

“What’s his name?” Cosmos turned and demanded after looking at him for a few moments.

“What, you’re serious? That’s Tarn. He’s the ex-DJD leader. Don’t know why he wasn’t killed on sight, even,” the warden laughed, “Would have loved to have been the one-“ He was interrupted by Cosmos shoving a credit chip in his face.

“I-Incredibly. I want him. Let me take care of him,” Cosmos said. “Please, just don’t kill him off.” He didn’t speak his next part but he thought it to himself, that nobody deserved that. The conditions that these tanks lived in were appalling. He wished he could save them all, but he didn’t have the money or the space to do so. So he had to settle for saving one.

At first, he just wanted a companion. It was easy to just feel lonely for his situation. Seeing the conditions changed everything. Cosmos fidgeted as he thought. Why couldn’t they be happy too? Everyone else was happy in this post-war world. Just because they had a military alt mode didn’t mean that they were any less deserving of being safe.

The Warden shook his head and then kicked at the side of the cage and then opened the door. He force fed Tarn another cube of drugged energon and then hauled him to his feet and stood him up in front of Cosmos.

Tarn stared up at Cosmos, wobbling as he stood. He felt weak, and he didn’t fully understand what was going on other than that this mech wasn’t a friend of the Warden’s, and that he wasn’t being currently hurt. Cosmos reached out hesitantly and then put a hand on Tarn’s chest, looking up at him.

“Wanna go home?” Cosmos asked, vocals genuinely kind and caring. Tarn felt his spark skip a beat as the beginning of an understanding itched at his processor. He was being freed from the horrid cage and given a second chance to live.

“I promise, you’ll really like it. You like music right? I can share that with you, I like music too,” Cosmos smiled, optics arching into a happy expression.

It was then that Tarn knew things were going to change, and it was then that he realized that he liked his new owner. 


	2. Chapter 2

With a little help, Cosmos had started the long walk home with Tarn. Cosmos didn’t realize it yet, but Tarn was heavily sedated. He could barely walk, making Cosmos think he was either tired or had a lack of motion in the cage so his legs were stiff.

“It’s ok, we’re almost home,” Cosmos said soothingly, “When we get there, I’m gonna call a medic and get that arm of yours taken care of.” Tarn just stared down at his feet, putting most of his effort into walking. “I bet there’s more that needs care. Don’t worry. I’ll take care of you,” Cosmos continued, never once trying to make Tarn answer.

Cosmos knew the trip home would have been the toughest part. He couldn’t fit Tarn in his alt mode, so they had to walk. It was the walking that worried him, but it was all he could do. By the time they arrived back at Cosmos’ small apartment home, Tarn was venting hard, his body hot as his fans tried to keep up with cooling his overtaxed systems from the simple motion of walking.

“Oh no, oh gosh please, Tarn, sit down, or lay down. Wait, no, let’s get that off you, but you can sit! You should sit, let’s do that first. Sit down,” Cosmos waved his arms a little, worried about the chains but also worried about the fact that Tarn could barely stand by that point. He eased Tarn down to sit on the couch, not caring how dirty the couch got. Then he got to work, pulling off the collar and chains that were on Tarn’s body. It was quite evident that they had been there a while; the one on his remaining arm had even started to wear down at his wrist. It broke Cosmos’ spark, to think that anyone would ever treat another living being like this.

“There you go. Easy does it,” Cosmos helped Tarn lower his arm, which was stiff from being held in one place for so long.

“Don’t worry! I am going to call Ratchet. He is the best medic I know, and he will help fix you up,” Cosmos declared as he looked at Tarn.

Tarn turned to look at Cosmos, his optics hazy and confused for a brief moment. He vented a little more, trying to take in cool air for his systems, before he shuttered his optics, just giving up trying to stay awake.

“Tired?” Cosmos asked, tilting his head to the side, “It is ok. You can lie down on the couch. Do you need help? I can help!” Cosmos knew that he couldn’t answer by now, but he was fine with talking to him. It was much better than talking to himself after all!

Tarn looked over towards the couch and then tried to lower himself down. His arm shook and he lost his strength, falling down. Cosmos made a loud noise of worry and jumped in place, and then fussed over Tarn, helping him stretch his legs out and putting a pillow under his head.

“Oh… you poor thing,” Cosmos rubbed at Tarn’s shoulder soothingly. “Do you think you could just rest for me? I’ll take care of things while you’re recharging.”

It was a few moments before Tarn nodded. His systems were burning as the drugged energon was starting to work its way out. Everything hurt more than usual and the only option was rest. Cosmos wasn’t threatening in the least though, which alleviated one of Tarn’s worries. Tarn pushed his head against the pillow and fell into recharge.

Cosmos sat down on a chair next to the couch and stared at Tarn. He wasn’t an advocate of any sort of violence. Being this close to a victim of abuse made him worried and uneasy. Cosmos distracted himself by calling Ratchet, hoping to at least fix up the immediate problem.

// Ratchet! Ratchet, are you busy? Or any of the medics you trust busy? I need help! // Cosmos tried not to sound desperate but his vocals over the comm were nearly a wail.

// Cosmos? I haven’t heard from you in an age. Are you safe? Did something happen? // Ratchet answered quickly, much to Cosmos’ relief.

// No, not me… You heard of tank farms right? Where the war-frames are put now? Well… I visited one because I heard you could sort of adopt one like a pet, but I wanted a friend. Except I found that they’re being abused and killed off! Ratchet you have to help. I saved one and he’s very bad off, he’s missing an arm, he can’t speak, and he’s currently passed out on my couch. // Cosmos explained the best he could. While he spoke with Ratchet, he wrung his hands together, worried and upset. He also kept glancing at Tarn as he slept, making sure he didn’t do anything by accident.

// I have. I’ve also heard rumors. I’ll be on my way, and I’m bringing my repair kit. I can’t do anything about your tank’s arm until I see him, but I can fix his vocalizer and bring him up to a better state of health for you. Just make sure he stays comfortable. // Ratchet ended the comm.

“Don’t worry, Ratchet is on his way!” Cosmos assured Tarn, patting him lightly on the shoulder. Tarn shifted just slightly as he recharged.

Cosmos chose to sit and read from a data pad quietly while waiting for Ratchet to arrive. He enjoyed reading; it was a quiet pastime that let him learn about all sorts of things. As he scrolled through the data pad, he idly thought that he’d have to pick up something on how to take care of a tankformer. He wanted Tarn to be as comfortable and safe feeling as possible.

A knock on his door drew him out of his thoughts. He hopped up and hurried over to the door to let Ratchet in. After all, who else could it be? He didn’t get visitors. Ratchet smiled at him as he opened the door.

“Hi Cosmos,” he waved a bit as he spoke, “It’s good to see you well. Though I know I’m not here to check up on you.”

“Yes, he’s over here,” Cosmos waved Ratchet along as he went over to the couch and looked at Tarn. Tarn was still sleeping, his fans still running loudly as he tried to keep his systems cool while he rested.

“That’s Tarn, isn’t it? Well I’ll be. He’s still kicking around?” Ratchet said while he knelt down and started to give him a quick look-over, “Hmph. Well if we gave Megatron a second chance, then we can do the same for this mech. Cosmos, you’re going to have to help me here.”

“Yes sir!” Cosmos straightened up and then knelt next to Ratchet, ready to help.

Ratchet started his work easily, checking Tarn’s vitals and starting to do some basic repair work. He’d occasionally ask for something, which Cosmos would hand him. Cosmos would sit at attention so rigidly until he was called upon, it made Ratchet chuckle to himself.

“Ok Cosmos. I’ve gotten the basics, cleaned out his vents, and now it’s time to get his vocals repaired. This might take longer,” Ratchet cautioned.

“Oh! Don’t worry Ratchet! I don’t have anywhere to go. Just here, with Tarn, to help him feel better,” Cosmos tilted his head to the side.

Ratchet looked at Cosmos for a few moments, thankful for his genuine kindness. If only more bots around were as kind as he was, there wouldn’t be problems like Tarn lying in front of him. Ratchet worked with a renewed vigor now, for Cosmos’ sake. He focused intently on the detail work of repairing Tarn’s shorted out vocals. It was a long job, and when Ratchet was finally done, he sat back, leaning against a nearby chair and tilting his head back.

“Oh Ratchet, let me get you a bit of fuel,” Cosmos hopped up and hurried over to his energon dispenser, coming back with a small cube for Ratchet to refuel from.

“Thank you,” Ratchet nodded his thanks as he took the cube and then paused. He gestured over to Tarn, who was starting to wake up. “You should get another cube, he’s waking up.”

Cosmos held his hands up to his chest, looking eagerly at Tarn for a moment before hurrying over and getting another cube of fuel and setting it down on the table to be ready for Tarn. Ratchet pulled one of his legs up, resting his arm on his knee as he watched.

“Uhhnn…” Tarn groaned as his optics brightened. He looked around and then at Cosmos, then to Ratchet. He recognized Ratchet; who wouldn’t recognize the famous Autobot medic? That must have meant that he was fixed up. His systems reported that he still was missing an arm, but everything else was running at a higher efficiency than it had in ages.

“Hi Tarn, it’s good to see you up!” Cosmos said cheerily. Tarn reached up with his hand and rubbed at his forehead, trying to wake up fully. Cosmos watched him and then put both his hands on Tarn’s arm to draw his attention away from his internal thoughts. Cosmos then nudged the cube to Tarn, looking eagerly at him. “You should refuel!”

“Mmn? O-hh,” Tarn tried to say something, but his voice was full of static. He sat for a few moments, making a few noises as he tried to speak.

Cosmos watched almost overly eager and bouncing in place, “You can do it!”

“Cosmos,” Ratchet patted him on the side. “Let him go at his own pace.”

“Aww,” Cosmos looked crestfallen, drooping a bit.

“Thank you,” Tarn said softly, drawing the attention of both mechs. Cosmos looked like he would explode from happiness at hearing that. “You saved me from a horrid fate. I am in your debt.”

“Well, oh, that’s not what I expected, I just-“ Cosmos got flustered at hearing that, poking his fingers together.

Ratchet sat up. “I’ll leave you with some information on how to take care of him,” he said and then stretched his arms, gathering up his tools and subspacing them. “I’ve gotten his schematics from the repair, and I’ll work on reproducing his arm.” He nodded and then headed out, leaving Cosmos and Tarn alone.

The silence was nearly tangible as Cosmos stared down at his feet and then occasionally glanced up at Tarn, who was sitting quietly and looking at Cosmos intently.

“I assume you will want me to serve you, as is most of the reason that tanks have been saved from those places?” Tarn bowed slightly, knowing that some were graced with the fate of living with Autobots in a way that was almost akin to being a butler or maid.

“Well, no I just wanted a companion and I couldn’t…” Cosmos trailed off.

“There’s no need for that Master,” Tarn nearly purred, glad that his voice was returning to normal.

Cosmos stammered and flailed his arm, “No, just, I’m your friend not your master!”

Tarn smiled behind his mask. If he had to serve any Autobot, he lucked out. Cosmos was going to be a delightful master to serve.


	3. Chapter 3

It had been about a week since Cosmos had saved Tarn. The days were long as Tarn struggled to adjust to being able to sit up straight, being able to refuel without having his systems overtaxed, and being able to rest by stretching out fully. Cosmos was delighted when the simplest things were accomplished, making him immensely proud of Tarn. Tarn was also delighted in his own way, as despite all his work before the war, he was never praised or had somebody truly proud of him.

What Cosmos didn’t expect was Tarn playing his servant. Tarn had said he was simply repaying Cosmos back for saving him, but he seemed to be taking a certain amount of enjoyment from helping Cosmos out in ways around the house.

One of Tarn’s self-appointed duties was making sure Cosmos’ fuel was set out when he came home from working. Cosmos still served as a mobile observatory, and it was far easier to catalogue different star systems from outside the atmosphere of Cybertron than on its surface.

Tarn sat waiting, watching the holoscreen while he did, for Cosmos to come home one day. He glanced over at a chronometer on the wall, and then at the untouched fuel on the tables. Cosmos was late. Perhaps he was out socializing with his friends? No, Tarn thought, the reason why he was here is that Cosmos wanted a friend. Something must have been holding him up.

With a heavy sigh, Tarn stood and then went to sit on the couch, flopping out over dramatically and looking sadly towards the door.

“Cosmos, my adorable little star watcher, where could you be?” He lamented to himself, putting a hand on his forehead as he did so. He cracked one optic open, looking towards the door as if hoping that Cosmos would come in at that moment. He had no such luck.

Tarn sighed again and pushed his face into the pillow, frowning to himself behind his mask. Something must have happened to Cosmos to prevent him from actually coming home on time and being so late.

So he waited. He waited for what felt like and was indeed hours. He was just about to give up hope and resort to using the home’s comm system (his own was long disabled and unused) to call Cosmos. He was hesitant to do so because it felt invasive; the home’s system was able to be heard by anyone nearby that felt like listening.

Just as Tarn was standing up to go over to the comm system, the door opened. He held still as Cosmos stumbled in, looking beat up and tired. His armor was dented and dirty, one of his optics was dimmed and his face plate was cracked. He didn’t seem to notice Tarn as he pulled off his face plate, his mouth dripping energon as he cycled heavily and fell forward.

“Cosmos!!” Tarn cried out as he ran over, putting his hand on Cosmos’ back and turning him over carefully. Cosmos looked dazed as he stared up at Tarn, and then gasped.

“Tarn, no! I don’t wa-want you to see me l-li…” Cosmos paused to intake a bit more air to cool his overheated systems. He then looked up at Tarn, cleansing fluid welling up around his optics. “Not like this… Please, don’t look…”

Tarn’s optics drew up into a look of worry and he sat carefully next to Cosmos, holding him up with a gentle hand on his back. He shook his head. “You saw me in a far worse state,” Tarn said, “I intend to take care of you to help you recover from your state.”

Cosmos sat there, half crying and sniffling, and put both his smaller hands around Tarn’s larger one. He looked on the verge of saying something before he sighed softly.

“Some mechs assaulted me because they said I looked funny… And because they found out I was taking care of you. Said you didn’t deserve to be taken care of. I didn’t like that!!” Cosmos wailed and pulled Tarn’s hand against himself, “Everyone deserves to be cared for. Even if it’s just by one other mech.”

Tarn stared at Cosmos, not expecting to hear that. Not only had somebody hurt Cosmos over a petty thing, Cosmos was expressing his feelings for Tarn in his own way.

“Now now, Master,” Tarn said soothingly, his voice’s qualities making his words have more effect. “Let’s get you cleaned up,” he said while gently picking Cosmos up in his arms.

Cosmos wiggled in protest, “No… Tarn you don’t have to,” he whined.

“I don’t have to, but I want to,” Tarn chuckled as he carried Cosmos into the washrack and set him down on the bench there. Tarn knelt next to him once he got the supplies in easy reach and started cleaning up the dirt and scratches, and easing out the dents on Cosmos’ armor. He carefully wiped the cleaning cloth across Cosmos’ face, despite him making a little expression of aversion to it. Tarn was careful and quiet as he worked, cleaning Cosmos head to foot. Cosmos was almost blushing by the end of it, never having gotten such attention before.

It was a little bit of time, perhaps an hour, before Tarn finished. He wanted Cosmos not only to look good, but to feel good as well. The shy little blush and smile on Cosmos’ face was worth it. Tarn turned and started the solvent bath up.

“I want you to have a good soak, Cosmos,” Tarn said in a somewhat ordering manner.

“Are you sure I-,” Cosmos started to protest but sighed just a bit and then nodded. It would feel good. He eased himself down into the tub, letting the water fill up around him. Tarn took that moment to turn on some music for Cosmos to listen to on a small sound system that was in the bathroom. Classical music was always soothing, Tarn felt, so he made sure it was something that could go on for a while.

“I want you to rest for a bit. Let the solvent ease the pain in your joints and your panels. I will leave you be for a bit, then return when I feel you’ve been in there for a good amount of time,” Tarn said. He bowed, “I will take my leave, Master.”

“Tarn you don’t have to call me that,” Cosmos said softly but it was almost lost as he sunk into the solvent and let out a delighted little sigh.

Tarn shut the door to the washrack and smiled to himself. He then turned with a frown towards the front door and made his way outside.

It was only a short while when Tarn returned. He had taken time to find those that had assaulted Cosmos. It wasn’t hard as when he was spotted, they had made a fuss and were about to launch another attack, when Tarn merely talked them down. He said some things, and soon the group of mechs were slumped on the ground, looking pathetic and weak. With that, he had left, proud of himself.

Tarn picked up Cosmos’ face mask from the floor where it was left. He took a few moments to clean it up and then brought it with him. He opened the door to the washrack, looking to help Cosmos a bit more. Cosmos was laying with his head on the side of the tub, a dreamy smile on his face.

“Oh, hello Tarn,” Cosmos said, waving just slightly. “I feel so much better, you were right.”

“Of course I was, I do know what I was talking about,” he chuckled. He offered his hand to Cosmos, who pulled onto it and out of the tub. Tarn went about drying him off with the towels that he had laid out in preparation for that moment, and then looked him over. “You look better as well, Master,” he said softly, and then held out Cosmos’ face mask. “You left this. I cleaned it up for you.”

“Ah? Oh I did, didn’t I?” Cosmos fit it back on and then touched at it with his hand, then tilted his head upwards to look at Tarn, “Hey, Tarn? Wanna go sit together on the couch? I kinda need it.”

Tarn nodded, “I’d be glad to,” he let Cosmos lead the way to the couch in the seating area, and then sat down with him. Cosmos curled against his side, looking exhausted. Tarn felt a little pang in his spark, it was an odd feeling. “I’m sorry that they did that to you,” Tarn spoke softly, reaching over to rub a hand against Cosmos’ shoulder and up to his cheek.

“Mmn? Oh… Well that’s ok, I’d rather me be hurt than you be hurt again,” Cosmos said. He put his chin on Tarn’s chest, looking up at him, before turning to click on the holoscreen. “Let’s watch somethin’, kay?”

“I’d be glad to,” Tarn said. He put an arm around Cosmos’ shoulders and held him close. Cosmos did the same, hugging against him.

“Things will be ok, Tarn,” Cosmos said quietly as they rested. “Promise.” 

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you to Finny ( http://robotsdonthavepockets.tumblr.com/ ) and Squibby ( http://gimmiesomesquib.tumblr.com/ ) for letting me write their wonderful idea.


End file.
